An All-Encompassing Storm
by WriteAboutMidnight
Summary: When Hermione's reality is shattered and she becomes a storm of emotions, Theo seems to be the only one who can whether her.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hello! This is my very first story and I hope you all enjoy. It's a bit of an AU, and Hermione was captured and imprisoned throughout the entirety of the summer before 7th year, and Harry freaks out and makes her go back to Hogwarts instead of continuing with their plan of leaving and finding the Horcruxes. Other things: Harry defeats Voldemort shorty after the conversation with Hermione asking her to go back, THIS STORY COULD BE TRIGGERING - there is mention of rape. I am not JK and I am not making any profit from this story, I do not own anything besides the plot.

An All-Encompassing Storm

 _Darkness._ That's all she could remember as she woke up in what felt like the first comfortable position she had been in for months. Everything was blurry, and there was a pounding sensation pulsing through her entire forehead that reached from ear to ear that was quite _annoyingly_ making it difficult to hear the snippets of the hushed and angry whispers in familiar tones around her. And that's when the realization hit her- the frightening realization that she shouldn't be hearing any familiar tones right now, and she most certainly should _not_ be feeling any sort of comfort at all. Questioning her sanity and also her safety, she forced herself to be as alert as possible, feeling an intense urge rush forward and through her body. Running on pure adrenaline, she tried to force herself into a standing position. Tried, because when she expected to be able to stand on the frigid and hard floor with her arms still attached to the wall with cuffs around her wrists, she only made it to her knees and fell flat on her face.

Thankfully, she realized, that she landed face first on a bed, with the same bedcovers as the ones in Grimmauld Place she distantly thought, and not the floor she expected to be on in the first place. The whispers around her suddenly stopped and she let out a loud groan and questioned what was going on as she finally fully opened her eyes. "Hermione!" She heard and whipped her face towards the person who was calling her name, once again in a familiar tone. The sight her eyes were met with instantly made them water with excitement and relief, something that she was starting to wonder if she would ever feel again. The weight of her situation, her imprisonment, her torture and _humiliation_ that she thought would never end, vanishing with one look into those piercing emerald eyes she had come to know and love over the years. Harry came to sit next to her on the bed and helped her sit up properly all while she was trying to throw her arms around him in an almost neck-breaking hug. When she finally had succeeded in giving the hug, she looked up over his shoulder to see another familiar face, one that was freckled with baby blue eyes and a lopsided smile that she couldn't help but feel a wave of affection for. She scrambled off the bed and attempted to throw her arms around Ron's neck as well but gave up after a few seconds of feebly trying to reach it and settled for squeezing his waist instead.

"How-"she had started incredulously but Ron looked down at her while trying to untangle himself from her to get her to sit back on the bed and cut her off. "It was all Tonks. She was in disguise as she went into Knockturn Alley following up on a tip that a wizard she had been hunting for months now was hanging around one of the shops lately. She walked in and overheard a conversation between two completely dense Deatheaters talking about you out in the open. She took their wands and put them in a full body-bind before the gits even knew what hit them!" At this, Ron's eyes lit up with excitement and Hermione found herself exasperatedly hoping he wasn't exaggerating anything now, as she wanted the full details of what happened so she could properly process everything. "Took them back to headquarters and had Moody question them until they were so scared he had to scourgify the urine from their pants _twice_." Ron stopped as he seemingly contemplated something to himself before he continued, "He's a right terrifying old bloke isn't he? Anyways, as soon as Moody told the Order where you were, everyone was ready to bust down the doors to the Manor and take you back." Now fully seated and into a comfortable position again resting her head on Harry's shoulder, she immediately raised her head at the mention of everyone wanting to storm the Malfoy Manor, which had not quite discretely become Voldemort's lair, in alarm. Sensing her distress, Harry cut in.

"Not that we did!" Harry scowled as he continued, "Moody banged his _bloody_ stick on the kitchen floor and gave us an ear-bashing - told us all to stop behaving like a bunch of brassed off prats and to sit down so we can figure out a plan." Hearing this, Hermione visibly settled, and once more laid her head on Harry's shoulder. "So…" The boys looked at her expectantly and seemed confused as to where she was leading this sentence and she found herself amused that they hadn't changed much during the months that she was gone. Asking with a prompting, and maybe _slightly_ aggravated tone, "So what did you do then?" The confusion cleared from their faces in such a way that distantly reminded her of the sun peeking out from behind the clouds during a particularly dreary day, quite appropriate for her situation she mused, and Ron once again spoke.

"Oh, Moody snatched some hair off the captured Deatheaters and made polyjuice potion. He and Harry had Kreacher apparate them into the dungeon. Think he said something about the guards questioning what they were doing down there before Moody had all five guards stunned before they even had a chance to fight back." Harry decided to interject, "And while he was doing that, I blasted the chains from the wall and grabbed you before Kreacher apparated us back right into this room. Didn't even take the time to take them off you, just wanted to get in, get you, and get gone. You've been here ever since then, just _sleeping_ for two weeks _._ Gave us a right scare the first days you were back though." Hermione looked at him questioningly and he seemed to be conflicted about something before slowly saying, "Hermione while you were sleeping you sort of…went barmy a few times while people came in to take care of you." Now there was no question if her tone was aggravated when she demanded, "What are you on about?" He let out a deep sigh and looked uncertainly at Ron, who nodded, though she could clearly see the hesitation in his eyes, like he was almost apologetic for what was about to come out of Harry's mouth. "When someone would come in to change you or wash you, you…sort of went mental." He winced and Hermione guessed he was recalling the memories. "You would scream and went absolutely mad, scratching and attacking whoever was in with you. Tore up the room a couple particularly nasty times even, left it in complete shambles. It got to the point where someone was only allowed in with an auror, it was bloody scary to be honest."

Hearing all of this, Hermione felt her strength draining out of her, not because she wasn't strong enough, no never that, but because for the first time in her life, Hermione didn't know an answer. She didn't know how to respond, or what to say. She couldn't remember anything much from her imprisonment - everything was a blur, and the more she tried to think about it the harder her head pounded and the sharper of pains she got. With the realization that for the first time she _just didn't know_ , Hermione went numb. She changed positions and laid her head in Harry's lap and stared straight ahead blankly while he stroked the hair away from her forehead absentmindedly looking down at her with concern before locking eyes with Ron, silently communicating and coming to the decision they had been debating about before Hermione had woken up.

He slowly lifted her off his lap and jerked his head towards the pillows, motioning for Ron to grab one, and then slid it under her in replacement of him. "Hermione, love, we're going to get you something to eat and let some of the others know you're awake." Harry waited for a response, one that he expected he wouldn't receive but was holding out hope for anyways, and after another few moments decided to just leave her for a bit and return later with the others a few at a time. He imagined she would want to talk to Tonks and Moody right away, so he planned for them to go first, right after giving her enough time for her to come around again. Ron walked out of the bedroom door and headed down to the kitchen where the others were, Harry following right behind but not without looking back at his best friend one more time. He whispered apologies that he hoped she could hear somehow and promised to never put her in this type of situation again, the decision he and Ron coming to earlier being the only way he could think of properly accomplishing that. Harry just hoped the inevitable storm upon breaking the news to her wouldn't be as all-encompassing as he expected it to be.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thank you to all the lovely people who have read this and are following the story as well! I cannot express how EXCITED that made me, you are all precious. Also - for this story, Sirius is alive because he's one of my favorite HP characters and he never died in my mind, and we all have that one character, I know we do, so don't judge if you find yourself doing that. Moving on! I just want to specify again that this is definitely an AU and is happening at the end of summer right before 7th year starts. This is a bit of a longer chapter, so I hope you enjoy!

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Harry was correct about Hermione wishing to speak to Tonks and Moody first. After Mrs. Weasley brought Hermione some stew levitating the bowl in front of her while holding several quilts, she had bustled around, wrapping the quilts around her and casting a warming charm in the room, exclaiming " _honestly_ this place is so cold and gloomy isn't it, you'd think Sirius would want to open some windows once in a while!" She tied her wayward curls back for her – as much as she could manage to anyways - all while Hermione stared blankly ahead wherever Mrs. Weasley had positioned her for the moment. After all of her flittering and fussing, she sat next to where she had Hermione settled with a heavy sigh and dragged her knuckles across from the top of her forehead to the apple of her cheek and brushed away the curls that had already sprung forward from their designated place. She decided she wanted, and more importantly needed, to say something to the young woman lying beside her looking so _lost_ who had become like a second daughter to her after all these years. Speaking softly, in almost a whisper, Mrs. Weasley bent down next to her ear and grabbed one of her hands to put between her own and said, "as much darkness that you witnessed, experienced, _thought of yourself_ even, as you were gone, just remember that you have twice as much love and support coming from your family. The Order, all of your friends, and of course Harry and Ron especially, we are all your family and we are all here for you, dear. You'll be okay…I just know it." With that and one final squeeze of her hand, she gave Hermione a kiss on her forehead and told her to eat up, fluffed her pillows once again, because pillows can never be too fluffed after all, and crossed the room to take her leave.

Hermione had heard every word, but they came to her in waves of recognition, as though Mrs. Weasley weren't right next to her ear, holding her hand, and instead was across from her in a large and empty room, hearing the words only as echoes of the originals. Once she had fully registered everything and processed how she felt about what was said, " _Because processing is a necessity_ ," she thought primly in the same voice that she had used all throughout Hogwarts as a young girl, she decided to sit up. "I will be alright," she had repeated to herself aloud, running through everything about herself in her mind that was even slightly contributive towards her being the person she knew she was. She ate some of her stew and put it back on the bedside table, expecting Harry and Ron to be in any moment, taking this alone time and savoring it as much as she could knowing that soon alone time would be about as likely as catching a dementor in the middle of a laugh.

She was correct when Harry walked in a few minutes later, but was pleasantly surprised to see Tonks and Moody in tow instead of Ron. Moody practically threw Harry out of the way before he had left to give the three of them privacy, while moving get to the chair perpendicular to the bed. He sat down gruffly and grunted his greeting at her, his magical eye swirling in all directions to check for enemies. As she watched him get settled into the chair she couldn't help but think to herself, " _Moody is definitely an appropriate last name_." Tonks made a much less pronounced entrance as she just smiled widely and her hair changed from brown to a bright pink and looked at her with genuine affection and excitement in her eyes. Hermione mustered up as much of a warm smile as she could at the moment for these two, knowing that without them she would still likely be locked away in the Malfoy Manner's dungeons, and she unconsciously rubbed her wrists as she turned her face to look at the other two people in the room.

Hermione looked down sheepishly before opening up the conversation. "I wish that there was something more I could say other than just thank you, it sounds so underwhelming compared to what you did for me…"

Moody spoke up first, effectively cutting off Tonks, whose hair turned to a shade of a candy apple red at the annoyance, saying, "We need every able member of the Order here with us." He paused for a second and added in as an afterthought, "Or at least alive. Everyone has a job to keep this organization runnin' smoothly girl, and even if you're young things are changin' and we both know you're smart enough to realize that age ain't goin' to exclude people from the darkness goin' on around us anymore, Miss Granger." Looking her directly in the eye with his good eye while speaking gave Hermione the sobering realization that she wasn't rescued with the concern of saving her life only, maybe it had been the main reason yes, but things were changing and saving a life just because you _can_ wasn't just something people could do anymore without thinking about it first. The irony of most of the current Order members being Gryffindor was not lost on her. Tonks, who was sporting a much lighter shade of red now, decided that now it was her turn to talk and this time Hermione was the one being cut off by the words,

"Oh, ignore the old curmudgeon 'Mione, I told everyone what I heard because I wanted to save _you_ , he's just being cynical." She gave Hermione a quick wink and a cheeky smile, knowing the reaction that was about to come from the oldest member in the room. Moody looked thoroughly affronted as he responded saying,

"As you would be, _Nymphadora_ , if you'd seen even _half_ of what I have in my lifetime!" Tonks' hair started turning the previous shade of red at the sound of her first name, but curiously started to turn back to a more muted shade and a mischievous grin spread across her face as she turned to address him.

"Sure thing Mad-Eye, tell me though, do all old and cynical curmudgeons snuggle kneazles, or is that just you?" When Moody's eye widened just a little, Hermione looked between them with a small amount of outward amusement and Tonks continued, "Oh don't give me that look - I saw you and Crookshanks the other day, in the drawing room when you thought no one was looking! You both looked pretty comfy to me if I do say so myself." Tonks' mischievous grin was now replaced by a smug one, with overall satisfaction on her face at getting the rise out of Moody she wanted in return for him using her _dreaded_ first name.

Hermione decided to cut in before things got a bit nastier and decided to thank them very loudly. When she was sure she had both of their attentions, she said "Tonks, I could go for a spot of tea right now, would you be so kind as to get me some?" She nodded but before she could leave to get the tea, a colossal crash came from below them. Tonks and Moody bolted out of the door, and once Hermione had found her way out of the maze of all of the quilts that were wrapped around her, she was following as quickly as she could behind them. Once she had finally reached the kitchen where she knew the others would be, she gasped at the sight before her. Kingsley Shacklebolt was on the floor of the kitchen, looking very much like a large and unconscious heap of purple fabric.

Sirius, who was nearest at the moment looked down at him and welcomed him with a smirk on his face, "Kingsley, old pal! Lovely of you to stop by. _Renervate!"_ Sirius looked up to see Mrs. Weasely, who was also in the kitchen at the time, giving him a disapproving look. "What?" Continuing with his own disapproving look, "It was a genuine greeting, Kingsley really _is_ lovely company Molls, shame of you to disagree with me, that's poor manners." Hermione, not for the first time, had rolled her eyes at Sirius's antics.

Mrs. Weasley was about to give her own retort when Kingsley, now fully standing with his robes righted, boomed, "Not now!"

Though Kingsley had been a Ravenclaw, Hermione was pretty sure that he was channeling his inner Gryffindor right now as he looked around the room surveying everyone's face with an intensity that could have rivaled a lion in the wild preparing itself to attack. Making sure he had everyone's undivided attention he continued. "There's been an attack on Hogwarts, McGonagall sent me her patronus and I flooed in right away to the channel connected in the headmasters office. I got there just in time to hear banging on the door and have Minnie tell me to go – to warn the Order and get reinforcements while she was working on getting the students who didn't have anywhere to go for the summer and had stayed into safe hiding places in the castle. She looked ready to fight and had her wand pointed at the door. I was just about to floo here when the door busted open, and several clouds of black came pouring in, swirling around the room.

"Deatheaters," Harry whispered angrily, his fist clenching and unclenching, pointing a hard glare at the ground. Hermione and Ron shared a concerned and terrified look, both for Harry and for knowing that this could very well be it – the last day that this mish-mosh of a family in the room with them right now –the Weasley's, each other and Harry, Tonks, Moody, Remus, Sirius, _Kingsley even_ , would all be together, living, breathing, _existing._

"That's exactly what they were! They flew around destroying all of the knick-knacks on the walls, ripping the books off of the shelves having paper fly everywhere around us making it nearly impossible to see anything clearly, exploding all the glass in the windows, and all I can remember is having the paper finally settle and then watching a cloud of black smoke come right through me then waking up here. She must have threw me through the floo herself…I think this might be it – the storm that's been brewing is finally here."

"Now wait a second, that doesn't make a lick of sense. Not that I don't believe you Kings, of course I do. But why would Voldemort try to attack Hogwarts? The school year hasn't even started yet." Everyone turned to look at Remus as he spoke. He was in the library on the top floor of Grimmauld Place when Kingsley decided to… _drop in_ , and therefore took longer to reach the kitchen where everyone else was but had made it just in time to Hear Sirius' jokes that had been made in poor taste. Unsurprisingly, he and Hermione had rolled their eyes at the same time.

Harry exploded, "Who c _ares_ why they did, we need to get to Hogwarts, we need to fight, we need to protect everyone that's there!"

Stepping over and putting his hand on his godson's shoulder to minimally placate him, if only for a second, spoke up for the first time since he made his jokes. "I think that is exactly what he wants right now, and that's the very reason he attacked Hogwarts. He wants to lure Harry out!"

Harry stepped away into the middle of everyone with the most defiant look Hermione had ever seen on his face, which meant a lot all things considered, and was now yelling. "It doesn't matter Sirius! It doesn't _matter_ if it's the perfect plan to draw me out, I'm not leaving McGonagall and those kids to their own defense, I won't!"

Hermione and Ron again met each other's eyes, this time coming to a decision. Each took a deep breath and came to stand next to Harry, Hermione arriving on his left and taking his hand in her own to show her solidarity and loyalty to Harry over the Order itself, and Ron to the right squaring his shoulders and taking on a defiant look of his own showing where his loyalty lied as well. Harry turned to his left and whispered lowly into Hermione's ear, so that nobody besides them could hear what he was saying, and asked if she was sure that she was feeling alright enough to continue doing what she was about to do. Looking him in the eyes, she gave him one certain nod, giving him the answer that he needed to hear. Having his two best friends – _his very first forever family_ – stand by him both literally and figuratively gave Harry the last push of confidence needed to declare to everyone in the room that he would, in fact, be going to Hogwarts and if they didn't like it they could follow him, Hermione and Ron into the floo and come get him themselves. He then promptly headed to the fireplace, a mixture of rage, determination, and surrender marring his face. Following just one step behind went Ron with determination on his face as well, mixed with a healthy amount of terror, and Hermione with sheer determination and concentration covering hers. Before anyone could stop them, Ron grabbed a handful of the floo powder, shouted Hogwarts, and they were engulfed with green flames, ready to fight the battle that they had been preparing for since childhood. Kingsley was right, the storm that had been brewing was indeed here _._

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Hello again! So if any of you are questioning whether or not this is going to be a short story because the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort is coming up quite quickly, it isn't. Please review or find me on Tumblr as dramioneandicecream!


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Hi hello everyone! So a fair warning, I didn't go into much detail of the final battle because to me, this story isn't about the final battle and Harry's fight, but a necessary scene to get through for my plot. So there _is_ the final battle this chapter, but it's not as illustrious or exhilarating as some would expect it to be. Also, the interaction with Pansy and her friends towards the end of the chapter probably seems random right now, but is important in upcoming chapters, along with the ending of the first chapter, that will come into play in later chapters. Also, there ARE CHARACTER DEATHS AHEAD, so if you think that will bother you, please don't read it. After the next chapter I will finally start being able to delve into my plot more and introduce Theo, which I am _very_ excited about, and I hope you are too! Finally, shout out to my absolutely lovely friend, justcourbeau who is always encouraging and saved the day when I ran into an issue with the story. You should all go read her stories because she is a great writer and a great person in general. Okay, I'm done rambling now, go forth my readers, enjoy!

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The trio arrived in the fireplace in the now deserted Headmasters office, coughing and sputtering out soot from their mouths while dusting the ashes off each other. Now stepping out of the fireplace, Hermione had _expected_ Harry to charge forward as soon as possible to seek out where everyone was, to fight his way through the Deatheaters who had invaded his home. Hermione had e _xpected_ Ron to not be too far behind, fighting alongside him, taking down as many Deatheaters as he could. Hermione had _expected_ that she would be right next to them until she could locate McGonagall and found out where the students were. Hermione had _expected_ to head in their direction and heal whatever injuries had befallen them, to put up wards to give them extra security. What she had _not_ expected, however, was Harry barking an order at her to put up every silencing spell and protection ward she had in her arsenal while he and Ron started searching through Dumbledore's desk drawers.

The methodic way that they both broke off and started searching through the belongings of the late Headmaster without any hesitancy, the seemingly singlemindedness of their searching, the _clean cut_ way they both knew what to do without speaking a single word, all gave way to the realization for her that there was a plan that was currently being executed – a plan that she knew nothing about. Every so often Harry or Ron would retrieve an item, search fervently through any pockets or openings and then toss it aside. Narrowing her eyes, Hermione studied them for a few more minutes, seeing if she could figure out what was happening to save herself the embarrassment of admitting her ignorance to something she felt she should know about for the second time in one day. When she couldn't piece together the right answer to any of the questions in her mind, her patience was officially worn, and she snapped. "Would either of you care to tell me what's _happening_ right now, or are you just going to continue turning over everything in that _bleeding_ desk?"

Harry and Ron, both on their knees now looking through all the aforementioned turned over items from the drawers they were ravaging through, looked at each other and grimaced identically in response. Hermione opened her mouth to yell at the boys, _her_ boys, but before she could even squeak out the first syllable of Harry's first name, she felt a shift in one of the wards she put up to alert her if anyone was trying to get in. She let out a harsh whisper at them to be quiet and hide themselves, then cast a quick " _Nox_." Tapping the tip of her wand to the top of her head, disillusioning herself, she dashed to stand behind the doorway just in time before it was, once again, burst open by the enemy. The doorknob had hit the side of the wall and was _slowly, inch by inch,_ creaking back into place. Heart beating so fast she was sure that the sound of it alone would give her away and breathing so shallowly to make as little noise as possible that she was beginning to feel woozy, she awaited to be able to take in the whole room again. The time it was taking was almost palpable she was so aware of it. So when she finally could see everything laid out before her again, she squeezed her eyes shut for just one second while letting out an imperceptible sigh of relief.

Upon opening her eyes, Hermione took in two Deatheaters. One was tall and lithe-looking, the other just an inch or two shorter and a bit more filled out, but both wore the same thing - a silver mask and onyx robes. The taller one moved stealthily, _gracefully_ , and reminded Hermione of a jaguar that was stalking its prey, blending into the darkness of the night. He whipped around to hiss something at his companion when he bumped into a loose tome on a bookshelf, knocking it over and creating a resounding crash. Taking the opportunity to whisper a silencing charm on herself, Hermione started to creep towards the desk to make sure Harry and Ron were securely hidden. Looking down to where they were under the desk, she felt satisfied enough with how they were hidden, a bit glad even at the sense that Harry had to bring his invisibility cloak, when out of the corner of her eye while she was turning to go back to her position, she saw the white tip of Harry's left shoelace peeking from under the cloak. If _she_ noticed, _they_ would notice, and Hermione thought that that would be _most_ unfavorable. Moving purposefully forward from the right side to fix it, she didn't realize that the Deatheater that had moved so gracefully earlier was coming around the opposite side of the desk, behind where she was just standing. When Hermione had turned around to face the left and tuck the shoelace under the cloak though, she saw him. She immediately dropped it, knowing that her move to tuck it away had given herself up.

With bated breath and waves of different emotions crashing over her, _panic, nausea, hopelessness_ , she looked up from her position crouched on the floor to see the eyes of the Deatheater staring at the last place she wanted anyone's eyes right now - at the tiny white tip of Harry's shoelace. Resigning herself to her fate, sending a silent wish to the universe that her parents knew how much she loved them, thinking back at her elation of discovering she was a witch and deciding she wouldn't ever take it back – not even now, a lone tear rolling down her cheek as her heart was being _shredded_ to pieces at the thought of never even getting to say the word goodbye in departure to her best friends, she closed her eyes. When nothing happened for an usual amount of time when one's expecting someone to kill you however, she opened them and noticed the other Deatheater approaching.

"What are you staring at?" The new voice cut like nails on a chalkboard to her ears and gave her goosebumps. She decided that if she never had to hear that voice again it would _still_ be too soon. She felt movement beside her and knew it had to be Harry readying his wand for the inevitable, however delayed it was. The first Deatheater replied with a simple, "nothing," however, and moved to exit the room. Looking hesitant, not quite believing his companion, he gave one more look around, and then also took his leave.

As soon as they were both gone, Harry ripped the cloak off him and Ron and Hermione lunged for both of them, drawing them in as tightly as she possibly could, not even caring in the slightest if she was cutting off their air supply as they were both currently stating. Deciding she had had enough reassurance that they were okay and at least alive after _yet another_ close call, she let go and promptly smacked them both on the arms. Harry let out a surprised "ouch," and Ron looked purely indignant. " _Now_ , are you two going to tell me what is happening or not?" Harry ran his hand through his hair nervously and rubbed the back of his neck before letting out a heavy sigh, having emerald meet a light honey finally relenting to let his friend know how much she had missed the past few months.

After a very much shortened explanation of horcruxes, and how Harry had to let the Order intervene with hunting and destroying them, and the news that Nagini was the last remaining horcrux they had to destroy before Harry could finally rid the world of the evil that had been shadowing him all his life, Hermione was silent. Harry and Ron looked nervously at her, knowing that if there was one thing Hermione Jean Granger _hated_ , it was not knowing something that everyone else did. She, meanwhile, wasn't even thinking about that. What she was doing, was taking a few minutes to process everything she had missed. Every battle she _should_ have been beside Harry for and wasn't, every aftermath meeting that she _should_ have been there to wordlessly hold his hand while he was thinking and she wasn't, everything that she _should_ have been there for and _just wasn't_. After deciding to speak to them more later, because now really wasn't the _proper_ time to discuss her feelings, she stood and waited for the other two to follow suit. When they did, she silently gave them each one last hug, just in case, and asked with a resolute look in her eyes, "Right, so what can I do?"

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Hours that felt like a lifetime later, because _no_ , Hermione was not the same person as she was when she woke up that morning, and neither was anyone else in the Great Hall for that matter, found her sitting on a the remnants of what would have been Ravenclaw's table this year. Would have been, except that it was halfway blasted apart, splintered, right through the middle from what she surmised to be a rogue hex. Not knowing what to do with herself while witnessing everyone mourn their family members, and not nearly ready to face the fact that her friends, people she had been smiling at in passing in the same halls just months before, people she had known since she was a child, people she had _laughed_ with about things that seemed so insignificant now just a matter of weeks ago, were gone. She was never again going to see Tonks' face morph for everyone to smile in a time when they needed to the most. Never again was she going to share a knowing smirk with Remus as Sirius was being overdramatic, or have secret chocolate exchanges while passing in the halls. Never again would she see the identical face of Fred beside George, or hear Lavender tittering with Pravati about divination and makeup while she was trying to sleep, nor would she see Colin Creevy and his camera around his neck, never again would she –

"Miss Granger?" She looked up to see the face of one battered and exhausted looking Professor McGonagall looking down at her.

"Yes, professor?"

"I hardly think that title is necessary right now, Miss Granger. Would you be willing to help Madam Pomfrey and some other faculty with the healing of those who have minor injuries? All of their time is being taken up by people who have more life-threatening cases and there's just no way that I can get to everyone that needs.." She trailed off, letting herself get choked up for a few moments before she discreetly wiped the tears that had fallen from her cheeks and steeled her shoulders again.

"Of course Profess – um, McGonagall. I'll get right on it."

"Oh, thank you dear." She reached out to touch the cheek of her student, sharing a look with Hermione that expressed just how apologetic she was for all that she had experienced and how much _pride_ she had for her as well. She removed her hand and let the corners of her mouth turn up in just the slightest bit before turning and rushing off to help Professor Sprout with what looked like a student with their arm almost completely severed.

Scowling at the soreness in her body while moving to stand, she started with the people closest to her on the left side of the room, the right side being reserved for those who have already passed, and those who inevitably will have before the day saw its end. The small group of Slytherins she recognized from her year shot glares at her as she approached. Being too exhausted to even _care_ about the looks she was receiving, she continued on until she reached them.

"What do you want, Granger?" Pansy Parkinson was the first to speak, standing in front of the group defensively, spitting her last name out of her mouth like it was the foulest word she had ever had to say. Hermione took a look at the girl, who sneered so _perfectly_ – almost like she practiced in the mirror until it was deemed just right, yet had tear stains that trailed all the way down her cheeks to her neck. She took in her stance, stiff and crossing her arms across her chest defensively, standing in front of her friends like she had to protect them, as if Hermione would attack any second. She took in her friends behind her, who were trying to obviously imitate her but weren't holding up as well as she. Hermione ignored all of her outward hostility, McGonagall had given her a job, and she wasn't going to discriminate.

"I'm not here to attack you or your friends Parkinson, just here to help." Pansy still had her face twisted into a sneer, but her mahogany eyes were skeptical and calculating. Apparently sensing no threat to her and her friends after a few more moments, she uncrossed her arms and stepped back into her circle.

"Yes, well, _finally_. Being _manhandled_ all the way into the dungeons doesn't exactly happen without injury, you know." Hermione raised her wand, readying it to heal whatever was wrong with Pansy, but put it back down when she started shouting at her. "Not _me_ Granger! _Obviously_ Daphne has something wrong with her foot, she's practically in Millie's arms, they look like they just got bloody married and are going to cross the threshold, are you blind? And do you even _see_ Tracy's arms, look at those gashes - I'm positive I saw bone! The whole thing is horrendous, honestly." Angered by Pansy's proclamations of her incompetence but seeing right through her façade as worry for her friends, she just narrowed her eyes and moved to where Daphne and Millicent were and went to work quietly. After healing all of the injuries, she looked to Pansy with a question in her eyes. Pansy just put her nose in the air and sniffed, turning around to her friends to speak quietly and ignoring her completely.

"Guess that answers that question then. Right, on to the next."

Hermione went around healing as many students as she could before the exhaustion that had been settling in her bones finally became unbearable and she trudged over to the gathering of Weasleys in the far left corner pushing her way through the sight of fiery hair without a single word. When she made her way through the group, she saw Harry sitting on the ground against the wall, knees gathered up against his chest with his head in his hands. She slid down the wall next to him and grabbed his hand to put in between hers, lacing their fingers, and laid her head on his shoulder before shutting her eyes and letting sleep finally take over. She didn't notice a tall, lithe-looking, _graceful_ , student standing with the now larger group of Slytherins across the room, surveying her position on the ground with Harry, and the color of his shoelaces.

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Hi hello again! If anybody has any ideas they would like to see in the story, I am always up for considering them. You can send me an ask or a message on Tumblr at dramioneandicecream.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Hello my lovely readers, this chapter is the shortest one written so far, but probably the most important yet. There is a clue to my plot that's pretty easy to sniff out. Anyways, I would like to thank everyone who is following this story, it makes me a very happy human! Though I do hope I start getting some more reviews soon, as I'm fairly curious about how this story is being received so far. Go forth and enjoy!

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Two weeks later found Hermione sitting at the large wooden dining table in the kitchen of the burrow attempting to eat breakfast, however daunting the task seemed to her at the moment. She tried to ignore Ginny's henpecking at Harry in the next room over, she really did, but found it a perfectly timed distraction from having to force yet another meal down only to have her stomach reject it a short while later. Molly was worried she might have caught a stomach bug just in time for the new school year to start, Hermione just brushed it off and attributed all of her stomach issues to nerves, everyone was still on high alert and levels of anxiety were just as elevated as they were before the final battle. Voldemort may have been gone, but the damage he created had already left its impact, and Hermione knew that the healing of Britain's wizarding society as a whole was going to an abundance of patience, compassion, and an even larger amount of time. She uncrossed her legs from underneath each other and stood, wishing she had put socks on before coming downstairs as the uncarpeted ground felt like walking on a layer of ice, even in late summer. The voices became clearer as she turned the corner and leaned her hip against the arched doorway to witness Ginny throwing what looked to be the entire contents of Harry's wardrobe around the room. Hermione thought that with her auburn hair whipping behind her each time she moved and pale arms flying everywhere, she looked like a sandstorm at dusk in the desert – beautiful, blurry, _requiring_ _trepidation._ Harry, meanwhile, looked absolutely flustered while trying to follow her and make sure that none of his clothes ended up in the fireplace or lost.

"Harry, you cannot _possibly_ show up to your first day wearing that!"

"Gin, I look fine, and besides, -" Harry stopped midsentence to raise his wand and _accio_ one of his flannels before it flew out the open window and continued, "I defeated the _dark lord_ , do you really think the Ministry-" a pair of jeans that was dangerously close to being set aflame this time – "is going to give a rats' arse what I show up to the first day of auror training in?"

Ginny turned and looked aghast at Harry, as if he'd just said he'd like to kiss a hippogriff. " _Harry_ , everyone is going to be watching you, you need to be prepared. Moody always said, ' _constant vigilance_ ' well I say constant preparation!" She became more worked up as each word passed her lips, but soon quieted when she met Harry's eyes after her tiny tirade and moved to put her arms around his waist while looking up at him. Harry automatically put his around her neck, like they had been doing it forever, like it was the most comfortable movement in the world for him. Hermione's lips upturned the smallest bit at the thought of her best friend truly happy, no matter the reasoning for it. "I just…I'm worried I guess. Everyone is going to be looking at you, Harry. Everyone is going to be so critical to see how you're doing in the aftermath, you know, all that rubbish. And…the papers haven't always been exactly _nice_ to you, you know." Hearing this gross understatement, Hermione snorted before she could stop herself and the couple turned to look at her.

"Hermione, I didn't know you were awake!" Ginny practically jumped over to her and hugged her with a bright smile, then led them over the couch while Harry was still trying to find and gather his discarded wardrobe.

"How did you even get all of his clothes down here in the first place?" Hermione looked at Ginny with amusement dancing across her face. Ginny looked back at her and tilted her head slightly to the left.

"It's laundry day." Hermione noted that she said it as if it were the most well-known fact in the world and decided to humor her. Nodding her head thoughtfully, she said, "Ah, of course, how could I have forgotten that today was laundry day?"

Ginny righted her head and smiled at her indulgently, like forgetting that Friday was laundry day was one of the silliest thing she could have possibly done but her oversight was fully forgiven. Finally collecting all of his discarded clothes, Harry came to sit on the armrest of the couch by Ginny and gave Hermione a small smile while placing his arm around Ginny's shoulders. She placed her hand over his and looked up with the faintest tinge of a blush on her cheeks and smiled at him.

"You two look blissful together." She kicked herself mentally as soon as she said it, realizing that it came out more wistfully than she would have cared for it to, and tried to cover it up with whatever kind of smile she could rouse at the second, knowing that her attempts were only feeble at best. Her friends both looked at her and as soon as she saw the pitying expressions their faces were wearing, she knew she had failed. She looked away and prepared herself for the sentences that she didn't _want_ to hear, but probably was going to anyways.

"You know, Hermione, you probably don't want to hear this right now, but I think you should give Ron another -"

Ginny looked like she was ready to pounce on Harry, and not in the way Hermione suspected he would appreciate. "My prat of a brother practically cheated on the girl!" Harry opened his mouth, but she seemed to know exactly what he was about to say. "And I swear to Merlin, if you say _one more time_ that he was trying to 'physically work off' his feelings, I will throw bat-bogey hex after bat-bogey hex at you until you're scared a bat is going to come flying out of your nose every time you sneeze for the rest of your life!"

Hermione gave the now scared Harry Potter a scathing look before rattling off the first fully formed thoughts that were popping up in her head. "The day that I give _Ronald Weasley_ another chance to prove himself as a competent romantic partner for me, is the day I've gone completely mental and you need to take me to St. Mungos! Besides, his tactless… _display_ with Lavender in the common room a few days after the war has shown me that Ronald and I wouldn't have been a proper match anyways." She put her nose in the air and crossed her arms as she continued. "I've always felt that I needed someone more serious anyways, and we all know that he's about as mature as the mandrakes Sprout gives to the first years at the beginning of the term!" By now Hermione was so enraged, and Ginny was looking so supportive that Harry began to feel very cornered. Ginny unceremoniously threw Harry's arm from her shoulder and decided that this might need a fellow witch's touch for consolation and squeezed Harry's hand before he could think of anything more to say.

"I think what Harry was _trying_ to say before he stuck his abnormally large foot in his mouth, was that maybe you should think of finding someone who isn't a complete and total dunce for yourself. Right, dear?" Ginny looked up at him with a smile on her face that reminded Hermione of the one Lavender and Pravati used to always give her after a backhanded compliment. Her anger at Harry lessened as she saw that Ginny was giving him his comeuppance for his comment.

While she was taking care of that, Hermione let her thoughts wander. Even just thinking about the satisfactory and smug look on Lavender's face when Hermione walked in after her shift of helping rebuild Hogwarts – her group had been working on the Hufflepuff's quarters – was enough to make her furious all over again. She thought to herself that there was perhaps an unusual amount of anger that was coursing through her currently, but brushed it off. _"I'm sure anyone would be as angry as I am right now if they had walked in on someone who they thought was their boyfriend, practically dry humping some harlot publicly as well!"_

"Hermione, are you even listening to me?" Harry's impatient tone brought her back to the present and she felt a modicum of guilt at letting her thoughts drift off in the middle of a conversation again, she had been doing that a lot lately.

"Sorry," she was frowning apologetically, "I got caught up in my thoughts. What were you going on about?"

"I was saying that at least you don't have to see him and Lavender give a repeat performance of sixth year, since we're both beginning auror training tomorrow."

Ginny piped in with a reassuring smile, "And _we_ are going back to school tomorrow, as far away as the distance between Hogwarts and the Ministry allows!"

Hermione sighed heavily and brought her knees up to her chest, letting her chin rest on her hands that were piled atop her other limbs, and her frown changed from apologetic to thoughtful. "I guess…I'm not even mad at Ron really, I'm just angry that it was such a public rejection. I mean, honestly, how terribly and disgustingly humiliating is that? Everyone saw us kiss just two days before and then of _course_ everyone had to see my face while walking in on them on the couch practically swallowing each other whole! I just…I wish he would have said something, anything, to me to communicate that we weren't going to give it a fair go." Her face had morphed from displaying a thoughtful frown into a smile that tugged the left side of her lips up more than the right, and her eyes became brighter with the anger behind them dissipating. "In retrospect though, I'm kind of happy that it happened. Certainly not that way, I mean he was a complete git, but maybe he was a git that knew where to draw our line."

As she stood up to leave and start packing, Ginny told her that Ron was upstairs if she wanted to talk to him. Hermione pretended she didn't hear a word, and let herself become immersed in her thoughts once again as she climbed the stairs to pack her things for what she was planning to be a brand new beginning to Hermione Jean Granger, able to completely focus on herself for the first time. Hoping fate wouldn't be too fickle, she scolded herself, knowing not to hold her breath and count on things such as hope and fate.

Hermione fell asleep that night to dreams of rough hands roaming her body while her own were chained to a wall, helpless and screaming.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi hello my lovely readers! I am actually very _very_ excited about this chapter. It took a while because to be honest, I've been trying to work up the motivation to work on it, as well as some other reasons, but mainly that. I was bored with the fact that this is just a filler and I waned to get to all the good plot points and relationship developments I have in store! But alas, context is a thing. So I powered through and once I started, this chapter actually turned out to be my favorite that I've written so far! Who would have thought? Also, I wanted to apologize for always updating so late at night. I am definitely more of a night owl, it's when I do my best work because it's when I'm most relaxed and motivated. Great for writing, horrendous for cleaning. Anyways, I just wanted to thank you all for being wonderful enough to follow my story or favorite it, and also encourage reviews! I love to know what you guys are thinking, and I reply to each one. Go forth and read, enjoy!

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If Hermione would have been asked if she would like the esteemed position of Head Girl even just six months ago, her light honey colored eyes probably would have grown twice their normal size in attempted contained excitement. The truth was, the thought of becoming Head Girl was a dream of Hermione's ever since she had overheard Percy Weasley talking about it at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall during second year. She tried not to make it seem too obvious, slouching the appropriate amount, keeping her eyes on the pages of the book in front of her, one hand on the page opposite the one she was reading and the other wrapped around a fork, making her seem indifferent to any of her surroundings.

When Percy had left the table early that evening to have his weekly meeting with his positions' counterpart, she finally allowed herself to process everything that he said. The young witch had learned how important it was to process important information in her first year when it was finally revealed that Quirrel was the culprit – that year at least- not Snape, and the first memory that had came to mind was setting Snape's robes on fire. She, _Hermione Granger_ , had set a professor's robes aflame on an impulse, and decided that that was completely asinine and to try to not let herself slip in that way again. While she was thinking, she thought of everything that he said regarding the respect that the position required from other students and decided in that moment that she _would_ become Head Girl, if for no other reason than to prove everyone who thought she was lesser because of her parentage wrong. The badge would be physical proof that yes, she was a muggleborn, and yes, she had _earned_ this position rightfully.

And then everything turned to hell and she found her priorities shifting. The war became more tangible as the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years. Each increment bringing the fight closer and closer until Hermione could almost _feel_ the breath of the first face-off in the shell of her ear, ghosting down her neck, and she _knew_ the wait for the darkness of their reality to come face to face with them was soon coming to an end. She had been right, of course, in the assumption that the vision Harry received of Sirius being in danger was deliberately meant lure him to the Department of Mysteries for some ominous reason. But she refused to be the one standing between Harry and the potential rescue of his only family that he had left. At this point in their lives, Harry had become much like the brother she never had and she wasn't going to deny him the right to save the only real parental figure he had for himself, all she wanted was for him to be safe and happy.

Death eaters against children – that was her first fight in the name of the Light. Antonin Dolohov had wordlessly sent a spell her way in the Department of Mysteries that had looked like purple fire dancing her way before it hit her in the chest and everything went black. The duration of her stay in the hospital wing irked her, she saw no reason why she had to stay all day when she was perfectly capable of moving about on her own, _thank you_ , and had looked right into Madame Pomfrey's face and argued this exact fact to the healer. Hermione would never tell anyone why, but from that day on anytime she was in the hospital wing she had listened to Madame Pomfrey's orders word for word unquestioningly.

Sixth year was the hardest. Everything was real. Everything that they had been preparing for was no longer a faint breath down her neck, it was a crazy cackle sending hexes her way meant to _kill_ her, it was someone holding a wand to her throat with no mercy in their eyes, it was cold and cruel and made her feel _dirty_.

The Death Eaters grew bolder with their attacks, more public, and Hermione knew that her parents were in danger. There was not a Death Eater or sympathizer who didn't know Hermione as Harry Potter's mudblood sidekick, and she was positive that Voldemort would have her parents executed to get to her if the need presented itself. The day before she had left to stay at Grimmauld Place before returning for sixth year, she had packed everything in her room and shrunk it be able to fit in her pocket. She kissed her mum and daddy goodbye for one last time that night, and in the morning eliminated all evidence of her existence to them. Obliviating her parents was the most heart wrenching thing she had ever done, though she knew it would have been worse to mourn them. It was the right thing to do no matter which angle she tried to analyze the decision from, it would have been insanely selfish to keep them aware of her just because she would miss them, while simultaneously keeping them in danger.

On top of that, she wasn't doing as well in advanced potions as she anticipated which had her constantly frustrated, Harry's obsession with Malfoy's whereabouts was grating on her last nerve as was Ron and Lavender's incessant need to show their affection publicly every chance they got. It made her stomach drop and want to both vomit and cry at the same time, and Hermione had no clue how to approach the subject.

Maybe physically it wasn't her worst year, but mentally and emotionally Hermione had felt absolutely knackered. Then Dumbledore was murdered by someone she thought she could trust, and the Death Eaters invaded. The most powerful wizard on her side of the war was _murdered_ and the safest place in the world she could think of had been compromised. In that moment, something snapped. She was _tired_ of feeling betrayed by adults whom she had put her trust in, she was _tired_ of feeling like she always had to figure out how to keep the ones she loved safe, she was _tired_ of the fact that because of everything that's happened since coming to Hogwarts her body was stuck in fight-or-flight mode. So she ran. She needed to be alone, needed to think, needed to breathe – _why couldn't she breathe_ \- and made it to the prefect's bathroom. She put up silencing spells and warded the door so nobody could get in until she left, and screamed until her throat was raw. She unleashed everything she was feeling until she could actually taste the metallic tang of blood whenever she swallowed and realized that she was sobbing so hard that it didn't matter if she was still screaming or not.

After all the tears were gone, and she was left with a satisfyingly numb feeling, she walked up to the Gryffindor tower, climbed into bed, and didn't leave until two mornings later when Harry and Ron had had enough worrying and sent Ginny to drag her out of bed.

After sixth year ended, Hermione returned to Grimmauld Place to stay with Harry and Sirius. Members of The Order of the Phoenix came and went as it was headquarters, but for Hermione all that mattered was that she was with her brother. It could be headquarters for the entirety of Britain for all she bloody cared, but it had Harry, the closest thing she had to family left, so it was home.

The last thing Hermione remembered before waking up back in Grimmauld after her rescue was going out to get some take away under a glamour from a muggle café around the corner, and that was it. She had no recollection of anything that happened after that, and a strong suspicion that someone had placed a charm on her memories because every time she tried to remember anything, she automatically got distracted by something else and her head would pound until it was unbearable and she stopped trying to focus. She still hadn't decided if she wanted them back at all.

Then the witch was waking up in Grimmauld and being fawned over by Mrs. Weasley before rushing off into battle beside the two people who meant the most to her now. _And they had won._ Sunshine was breaking through the darkness, and she could _breathe_ for the first time in what felt like forever. Yes, it smelled of smoke and blood whenever she inhaled, but she could do it now and feel a weight lifted, not just because if she stopped she would die. She worked her way into the Great Hall and took in everything around her. The cries of agony, from injury or from losing someone she couldn't tell, the barking of orders from anyone helping to heal the injured, the sight of everyone moving in blurs around her as if she didn't exist to anyone, the tingling sensation of magic still in the air. Once she felt she had gathered herself enough to sit and be around all the chaos, McGonagall approached and asked for her help, and she promptly went to work.

She had been offered a job at the Ministry, whatever department she wanted. Ron and Harry had been offered expedited entrance into the auror training program and had readily accepted. Hermione on the other hand held off. What sense would it make to rush into being an adult? What sense would it make to not complete the education she had strived for _so long_ to be the best at? What sense would it make to jump into a new job in a new environment without taking the time to properly process everything that had happened to her and how she felt about it? It wouldn't. So she turned down the offer.

This was the year for Hermione to take to herself. She would take the classes she wanted, spend as much time in the library and _away_ from the quidditch pitch as she wanted, and she would be able to just focus on her academics and herself without worrying about someone trying to kill Harry every time he so much as sneezed. Yes, this was her year for herself, nobody else. Which is why she also turned down the offer of Head Girl. She was far from being considered lax, but any responsibilities that could add to her plate that she already had piled high with things _she_ wanted was not in her plan for the year. And now she was aboard the train on her way back to Hogwarts in a compartment with Ginny, Neville, and Luna. She thought it was a rather poetic ending to her last train ride back, to be surrounded by friends and headed to a completely mundane year, while her very first time she had come aboard with no friends, blissfully ignorant to the countless adventures that awaited her.

"Hermione?" She was broken out of her thoughts as she turned her head away from the window to see Ginny looking at her with concern on her face. "You've not said a word since the train started and we're almost there. Sure you're alright?"

Hermione gave her friend what felt like the first genuine smile she had given anyone in months and responded. "Yeah Gin, I think I will be alright. I'm going to go to the loo and change into my robes before we arrive."

As she was headed towards the bathroom to change, she ran into someone who looked like they were just exiting from doing the same.

"Sorry!" She rubbed her forehead where it hit on the other person's collarbone, and looked up into the most enchanting pair of dark brown eyes she had ever seen. She thought she recognized them as the same eyes she would occasionally catch on her way back to her seat in her advanced classes that she shared with Slytherin last year, but couldn't be sure. She looked away from the person's eyes – his eyes- and took in the rest of him.

He had short chestnut colored hair with a naturally occurring part on the right side of his head, making the shorter pieces of his slightly wavy hair more noticeable than the rest on his left side. He had _strong_ , dark brows, and she couldn't decide if the fact that they were slightly bushy made him look more rugged or intimidating. His eyes were almond shaped, and beneath them he had light brown freckles that were scattered across his face starting under the end of each eye and continuing along to meet in the middle on the bridge of his nose. His lips were full, though the top was slightly smaller than the bottom with a cupid's bow, and were a dusty rose color, which was a compliment to the light complexion he held. A slightly chiseled jaw with a square shaped chin finished the picture for her and Hermione thought that if he smiled, there would be dimples created in the hollows of his cheeks. She wasn't sure why, but she had the urge to discover for sure if that was true.

Before she could excuse herself and save further embarrassment from the blatant ogling she just did though, someone behind her cleared their throat obnoxiously to get her to move out of the aisle. She was already in mid-step to flatten her back against the windows of the compartment behind her so the person could pass through when she felt an elbow in between her shoulder blades push her forward, causing her to fall into Mr. Dreamy. Hermione righted herself, noticing that the guy she was forced to fall into was still holding her elbow, and looked up just in time to see Romilda Vane's smirking face. If Hermione had never growled in her life before, she had now. "That girl's a menace! Just like Rita Skeeter! I want to put _her_ in a bloody jar and see how smug she comes out _then_."

"I find it hard to believe that _you_ would keep someone in a jar." Hermione moved her eyes away from Vane's retreating form and placed them back on the face in front of her that had one eyebrow quirked. Hearing that undeniably aristocratic, though not haughty, voice she was _sure_ it was the same guy from the advanced classes she shared with Slytherin. She discreetly moved her elbow out of his grip.

"Oh, erm no, I just-, look, I'm sorry I ran into you." She frowned and looked back down the aisle where Romilda had been and added, " _Twice_." She offered a tight smile and finally made it to the bathroom door to change. Just before she had opened the door to enter, she thought to at least ask his name, assuming that they would probably be in the same classes this year since NEWT level lessons included all houses. When she looked to where he was standing though, all she could see was the back of him, already halfway down the aisle towards the back of the train. There was something about the way that he walked that struck her as unusual, something she couldn't put her finger on though she knew it was familiar somehow. It was in the way he effortlessly glided and managed to still emanate a manly presence doing it, it was almost… _graceful_.


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